Trucker Randy Johnston has taken possession of a strange load Said To Contain ‘ice’ from a shipping facility in California. The journey towards its destination will open his eyes to secrets of the universe that he grows to wish had been kept behind the curtain forever. He will encounter unspeakable nightmares on the road to Cape Canaveral, where the fate of all mankind hangs in the balance.Randy Johnston is a simple man; a trucker by trade, this down-home southern soul is more comfortable behind the wheel of his trusty Kenworth, Big Red, than he is when he finds himself surrounded by the strife his ex-wife seems to insist on causing him when he is anywhere near his home soil. If not for the sporadic and unpredictable visitation she grants him with his 8 year-old son, Sammy, he likely wouldn't return to his adopted state of Florida at all.A full week's time with his beloved boy is approaching quickly. His work has taken him clear across the country, to California, and he is nervous enough as it is about the chances of being lucky enough to catch a decent paying load to carry him back home in time.Unbeknownst to him, trouble has just touched down off the pacific coast. General Richard Tomlinson, a hard-edged and elderly member of the U.S. military brass, has had what will likely be his legacy-defining mission dropped squarely into his lap from the grey skies above. He confers with long-time cohort, Ambassador Conrad Butler, about a situation of epic proportions that many feared would one day come to pass. The covert solution the two of them devise will bring Randy Johnston, unwittingly, into a world he has never known to exist. When the driver takes possession of a strange load Said To Contain twenty-two metric tons of frozen ice from a shady shipping facility in Oceanside, he embarks on a journey that will open his eyes to secrets of the universe that he grows to wish had been kept behind the curtain forever.On this particular haul, he will encounter unspeakable nightmares and learn unfathomable truths before reaching the load's destination in Cape Canaveral -- where the life of his son and the fate of all mankind hang in the balance.

what if you had the power to shoot beams of power out of your hands? Skyrid was just an autistic boy until Cithians attacked his hometown, Siraka. Unknown to Skyrid, there is power inside him just waiting to come out. What will happen when his power is released? And, will Siraka ever be return to it's former glory?The moon is falling. The shift is tearing apart the transportation infrastructure, and the population is stricken with "moon sickness" - literal lunacy.Charlotte, Lawton, and Fisk are friends. They met in a writing workshop when the news of the moon's fall was only mentioned on the late-night conspiracy shows. While lunar cults pray for the intense celestial coitus of Luna's impact with Earth, all Fisk wants is Charlotte.MOON SICK is a surreal short story by Aniko Carmean, author of MIXED MEDIA and STOLEN CLIMATEs.

Keira Jameson used to lead a normal life, she just had a gift, passed down through the generations of her family. Now, after hearing voices, having strange dreams of others calling out to her, and her grandfather's last words haunting her, she sets out to find other families like hers. Along with her best friend Lily, the only person outside her family to know about her gift, Keira begins a hunt for her ancestors. A chance meeting with a young man, Lucian Turner, sets them on the right track, but their discoveries change the way Keira will see herself for ever more. Fear, superstition and heritage are shaping Keira's future and she must face her enemies, even if this could mean losing her life. Through loss and love her destiny becomes inescapable. Part Buffy-style horror, part tender romance, Bloodlines will have fans of the genre on tenterhooks waiting for the next instalment of this gripping and hell-raising tale.

This is a collection of short, and some not so short, stories that involve the undead as well as a wide variety of very unpleasant things.This is a collection of short, and some not so short, stories that involve the undead as well as a wide variety of very unpleasant things.Some of the unpleasant things include mentally deranged psychotic clowns, someone being pushed from a very tall building, a giant six foot tall fluffy pink talking bunny that a man discovers in his kitchen at 2:47 in the morning, an elderly deranged man who believes he's a ninja, a vacation near Albuquerque that ends very tragically, and many other things.Southwestern Road Trip picks up immediately after the events portrayed in Valley of Death- Zombie Trailer Park. It features appearances by Deputy Bo Autry, Sheriff Guiteriz and finally explains what became of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Keith Dudley. This story marks a major change for me, in that the reader get to decide how it ends; Horribly or Very horribly.The Fall of Bayonne is actually more of a novella than a short story and chronicles the events that led to an undead outbreak that occurred during a prison revolt. My personal favorite scene is when the execution of a very bad man goes about as wrong as possible and it turns out being dead doesn't mean much.Waking at 2:47AM does not involve zombies, but is filled with many unpleasant things. A father discovers nightmares are more than they seem, and sometimes they do come true.Chef's Surprise may seem like just another murder case, but when it ends with undead and psychotic clowns it's anything but ordinary.Disgusting Campfire Tales was written principally for those critics and reviewers that have complained my stories are too gross and disgusting. (which they are)Fortunate Cookie takes a peek at an unloved girl who discovers the end doesn't mean that everything is over.

In a world overrun by zombies, one family struggles against all odds to hold on. With three vampires closing in can the Talbot family withstand the coming onslaught? Or will they become a footnote in the history of the apocalypse.

"Please don't do this, please don't do this to us!" - A neighborhood is haunted by the powerful spirit of a prostitute, leading a vicious pack of hyena demons. Wallace, a young homeless man, is drawn into the conflict."Please don't do this, please don't do this to us!" - A neighborhood is haunted by the powerful spirit of a prostitue, leading a pack of vicious hyena demons. Revered as a saint by some, hunted relentlessly as a witch by others, Valeria struggles to find love and salvation while fighting for justice. Wallace, a young homeless man, is drawn into the conflict. Can he search for the truth hidden behind the veil which separates this world from the next? Can the diabolical cycle of evil be broken?

Death personified: Inside this volume are four tales of Death and his interaction with souls on their way to the afterlife. We all need a little help in life, follow the Reaper as he helps souls in their death find their eternity.Throughout the ages there have been countless creatures that have instilled fear in children and adults alike. Most of these are made up, or come from some type of legend and are told at night to frighten and entertain. One of these creatures of legend has been feared far before,and for good reason, for he is Death personified. He follows close behind us as we live our lives, watching and waiting for the day in which he can ferry our souls into the afterlife. These four tales are part of a larger volume held by the Reaper himself. They depict some of his most unforgettable interactions with souls moving on towards their eternity.

On the last day of the Tipton County Fair, young Billy Slater waited outside as his older sister and her boyfriend entered the haunted house. He glanced up and examined the faded mural painted on the outer wall. The monsters depicted were cheesy and hopelessly outdated. He shook his head, wondering why anyone would pay good money for such a lame ride. His sister and her boyfriend never returned.Robert Alphonse Moore was ill and told he would die within six months. The only way that he could continue to live would be to have his brain transplanted into the body of a healthy person. Benny Harris, was willing to provide his body - at a price. procedure was illegal but money talked. Robert had been told that hew would still be Robert with the except that his brain would reside in a healthier and younger body. But did Robert remain Robert after the operation?

London awakes one morning to find itself besieged by a sky full of floating icebergs. Destroyed oil rigs, mysteriously reborn, clamber from the sea and onto the land, driven by an obscure but violent purpose. An anatomy student cuts open a cadaver to discover impossibly intricate designs carved into a corpse's bones—designs clearly present from birth, bearing mute testimony to . . . what? Of such concepts and unforgettable images are made the twenty-eight stories in this collection—many published here for the first time. By turns speculative, satirical, and heart-wrenching, fresh in form and language, and featuring a cast of damaged yet hopeful seekers who come face-to-face with the deep weirdness of the world—and at times the deeper weirdness of themselves—Three Moments of an Explosion is a fitting showcase for one of our most original voices.

Ron and Jessica Stahl are a power couple from Southern California, on a Christmas driving holiday in the Colorado mountains. When they stop for the afternoon in sleepy Lone Cone (Pop. 317), they’re charmed by the quaint tourist town which is filled with B&Bs, candy stores, and gift shops. But the folksy hospitality will vanish as the sun drops behind the mountains. A winter storm is approaching, and the Stahls couldn’t have picked a worse night of the year to get snowed into this perfect little town with a dark, dark secret.

In The Grigori Trilogy No. 1, The Grigori are an ancient race. Powerful people, possessing abilities and senses humans do not have. They live among us, their presence clear to those who have eyes to see...Owen and Lily Winter, twins, always knew they were different than the others, who lived in the quiet hamlet of Little Moor. Their mother dead, never knowing, who their father was, they lived alone in the large house. When Peverel Othman arrived in Little Moor he was looking for something or someone, he really was not sure which. When he found the twins he knew his search was over. For Lily and Owen their lives would be forever changed. The quiet hamlet of Little Moor just became the new home of a Grigori.

Not All Exorcists are Equal....One is Marked. When defrocked ex-priest, Jimmy Holiday, agrees to help an old friend with his sick daughter, he doesn’t expect the horrors that await him. Blackmoor, his friend’s new residence, rests upon the outskirts of the town of Sorrow’s Point. The mansion’s history of magic, mayhem, and death makes it almost a living thing – a haunted mansion straight out of a Stephen King novel. Jimmy must decide if the young girl, Lucy, is only ill, or if the haunting of the house and her apparent possession are real. After the house appears to affect him as well with colors of magic dancing before his eyes, rooms warded by a witch, and a ring of power in his voice, Jimmy is met by a transient who tells him he has “the Mark.” Whatever being “marked” means, Jimmy doesn’t care. All he wants to do is help Lucy. But, helping Lucy means performing an exorcism.

Zach Adams is one of the best detectives in the country. Nicknamed Cowboy, he’s a soft-spoken homicide detective from Houston known for his integrity and courage under fire. He serves on a federal task force that has a single mission: to hunt down Dominic Abend, a European gangster who has taken over the American underworld. After a brutal murder gives them a lead, Zach and his tough guy NYPD partner Martin Goulart feel like they’re finally on Abend’s trail. But things get complicated—and very, very weird. Goulart’s on-the-job enemies are accusing him of corruption. And Zach is beginning to suspect that Abend’s evil goes beyond crime—perhaps to the edge of the supernatural. As his investigation continues in Germany, Zach finds himself lured into the impossible. In a centuries-old forest under a full moon, a beast assaults him, cursing him forever. In the aftermath, Zach is transformed into something horrible—something deadly. Now, the good cop has innocent blood on his hands. He has killed—and he will kill again—in the form of a beast who can’t be controlled or stopped. Before he can free himself, he’s going to have to solve the greatest mystery of all: How can you defeat evil when the evil is inside you?

They hide in the dark, late at night. They wait eagerly to devour your flesh and savor every last bite. The world is a very dangerous place and you have no idea just how dangerous it really is. If my life hadn't changed when I was 11 then I might be just as naive as the rest of you. My name is Wes Parker and I have a very unique job. I hunt Monsters.In the dark, when you hear a rustling in the bushes outside your house, you wonder if it could possibly be a monster lurking outside your home. Guess what? It is. They do exist and they do want to eat you, savoring every last bite. Run if you wish. Hide if you can. You probably won’t escape. Unless I can get to them before they devour you. Day in and day out I search for, find and kill monsters of all shapes, sizes and breeds. Seems tough but not for me because I’m a paladin. Basically that means I’m strong and fast, and I have few other tricks up my sleeve. Plus I’m not a sniveling wimp. Read my stories if you dare. Seriously just read the book. Even a baby could handle it. You’re not wimpier than a baby, are you? This book is a collection of short stories that were originally posted on my blog. You can visit there for more hunting.

A scream in the night leads three neighbors to an apartment inhabited by an obviously terrified girl. Are her fears the creations of a delusional mind, or is something more sinister at work?A scream in the night leads three neighbors to an apartment inhabited by an obviously terrified girl. Are her fears the creations of a delusional mind, or is something more sinister at work?FRIGHT is a short story of approximately 1400 words. Also included is a sample of THE VAMPIRE HUNTER CHRONICLES.